Colour of Blood
by Lady J
Summary: A dangerous ninja had arrived Leaf Village to complete a mission. How would this affect Iruka and his newfound romance...
1. Sparkling vs Black

Iruka met his childhood crush again. Meanwhile, a dangerous ninja had arrived Leaf Village.

None of the characters belong to me, EXCEPT for:  
- Kyomi  
- Eath  
- Makiko (only mentioned once in this story - takes a major part in _Who Said?_)  
and some other minor characters.

**CHAPTER 1**

_Red sparkling paint. It splashes on the dark background. _

_More red paint. A darker tone of red. _

_I feel sick. _

_The paint-no, it's not paint. _

_It's blood. _

_Do you know that people with a darker heart have darker blood? _

_It's true. Really. _

_I've seen. _

_I've seen a lake of blood that's so dark that I could've sworn that it was black. It was when I witnessed the death of an extremely evil person._

_On the other hand, the sparkling kind only runs in bodies with a pure heart._

_I know this. It has just been confirmed again tonight._

_Being in this line of work has to see a lot of blood, touch a lot of blood. It's part of being an excellent shinobi. One thing you cannot do, however, is react to the sight of blood, despite whether it sparkles or not. But that is exactly what I'm doing right now - commenting on the blood of a pure-hearted person._


	2. Reunion

**CHAPTER 2**

"AGAIN?" Iruka exclaimed in disbelief. "Why do you three always get hurt?" He put his hand on his forehead, trying to suppress a headache. 

Class had just been dismissed. A swarm of little kids are pushing to get through the classroom door. Iruka looked up every time he heard a "Bye, Iruka-sensei!" coming from the crowd. He would either return a smile or a wave. 

"Huh? I don't know, Iruka-sensei," Udon, accompanied by his two best friends, looked at his teacher as if Iruka would know the answer. Shaking his head, Iruka kneeled down to take a better look at the wounds on his six-year-old students, some on the knees, some one the arms.

"How are you going to become a ninja if you are so careless?" he asked with such care that you can almost hear him end the sentence with 'sweetheart'.

"Ya, I know! It's all your fault!" Konohamaru accused Udon. "You'll never be as great as Bro if you keep getting hurt like that!"

Udon dropped his head with a snot dangling from his nose. Iruka patted the little boy's head with his sweet smile, "Don't worry, you'll do fine. Come one, let's get that wound taken care of." Kids are so cute, he thought. He then led the children to the health centre to see Dr. Hamaru.

"Dr. Hamaru? Konohamaru and co needs your help again," he called out as he opened the door to the room. However, instead of Hamaru, a girl in white lab coat turned in response to his greeting. She was in her mid-twenties with long brown hair that just passed her shoulders. The beauty she possessed was not the kind that would be acknowledged by everyone. She just had this sweet and innocent face. She was sitting at the desk facing the window opposite to the door. She smiled and said, "Dr. Hamaru has been switched to another section. I'll be taking his place from now on. Can I help you?"

"Y-yes, my students got hurt again. Can you please take a look?" Iruka silently damned himself for his easily-blushed face.

"Of course," her smile remained on her face, as she waved the children over. "What happened?"

"We were playing ninja today during recess," Moegi explained. "We heard from Leader that ninjas can walk on trees, so we tried. And we just kept falling."

The lady doctor blinked and her mouth formed a small 'o' for a moment before she started to laugh, "That's very dangerous. Ninjas don't do trainings like that until they graduate, or else you'll get hurt like you are now!" She carefully wrapped the bandages around the wounds. After she was finished, she told the children to take care of themselves before letting them leave.

"See you tomorrow, guys!" Iruka said as the kids ran past him through the door.

"Bye! Iruka-Sensei!" Konohamaru replied, then mumbled to his friends. "Bro said ninjas can walk on water too. I think that would be easier to do."

"But I can't swim..." Udon replied as they walked down the hall.

"I'll teach you puppy swim..." Moegi said.

"GUYS~!!!!" Iruka yelled at them furiously. "Read my lips! DO. NOT. PLAY. NIN. JA. WHEN. YOU. ARE. NOT. ONE."

"OH NO! He heard us!" The kids turned around and stared at the enraged sensei for a moment. "RUN~!!" One of them called out and they did.

Letting out a long defeated sigh, he put his hand on his forehead again. Upon hearing a giggle, he realized that the lady doctor was watching. A shade of red crept up his face. "Iruka, you still blush every five seconds."

Iruka was quite surprised. Do I know this girl? He asked himself. I would definitely remember a girl as pretty as she is. And the only girl I can think of is my childhood crush: "Kyomi?"

Kyomi nodded to confirm his suspicion. "I didn't recognize you...When did you come back?" he asked as he found himself a seat opposite to her.

"Just two days ago," she replied. "How have you been? I see that you are having fun being a teacher."

Iruka thought of his students and laughed. "Ya, they are nice kids. These children are still so innocent. They don't know how dangerous the ninja world really is. And that's also the most frustrating part."

"You were like that yourself when you were young," Kyomi teased. Iruka blushed again. Kyomi never used to tease people. She never really talked to people, he thought.

"I guess there is always one or two students like that every year," he commented. "Always causing trouble. Just like Konohamaru and Naruto."

Kyomi's blinked and looked at Iruka curiously, "Naruto?"

"Yes, _THE_ Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. Used to give me headaches everyday," he recalled on the pranks Naruto used to pull, and chuckled to himself. "He's a nice kid though. Seems to be completing missions properly since he graduated."

"Well, there are always the good kids to balance out!" Kyomi pointed to herself, and laughed. Iruka joined her, and said, "You are right."

After a several moments, Iruka stared at his knees and said seriously, "You know, Kyomi. Without you.... I mean...I am unbalanced on my own...and I need you to balance things out...and umm...you balance me out...uh...I mean...are you currently seeing anyone?" His face was now bright red, covered with sweat. "Am I making any sense?" He looked up at Kyomi without moving his head, and laughed nervously at his own silliness.

Kyomi wasn't laughing, however. She was just studying his face, trying to figure out if he was serious. "I didn't think it was true."

"Huh?" Iruka stopped laughing.

"Before I left the village, Makiko told me that you had a crush on me," she explained.

"She did?" Iruka blushed. "That big mouth..."

"But I didn't really believe her...." It was now Kyomi's turn to blush. "Because...of the rumour..."

"What rumour?"

"...nothing. Forget it. It was a silly rumour," she just gave him a big embarrassed grin. She used to be such a shy girl. It was nice to see her smile so often now, Iruka thought.

"Come on," he insisted with a smile. "I didn't know that was a rumour about me!" Kyomi was surprised that he didn't know.

"It was all over the Internet...The KakaIr-" She quickly stopped herself and changed the subject. "Weren't you asking me out? Let's go see a movie this Saturday."


	3. The Mission

**CHAPTER 3 **

_My blood, you ask?_

_Mine doesn't sparkle._

_See that darker tone of blood over there? That's mine._

_Weird. I thought it would be darker than this - given that all the missions I've accepted and completed are dirty heartless jobs._

_I don't even know why I do this. Why did I become a ninja?_

_Perhaps I'm seeking for adventures?_

_No, that's not it. I never liked adventures. I never liked taking risks._

_I suppose I'm looking for some place where I can release my feelings. My pain. My sorrow. My hate._

_My name is Eath._

_This last mission that I've accepted was...probably the 50th mission in 4 years. None of which I found difficult completing...except for this one, perhaps. Most of them were A-ranked missions...or maybe higher. I'm not sure. I just performed my duties without asking any questions. We are not supposed to ask questions anyway. So what if we die? What-if's. I hate what-if questions. There are too many possibilities out there, you can't imagine or predict every single one. What's done is done. What will happen will happen. There's no point worrying. If I die in action, then so be it. It's not like my life is worth anything anyway._

_This most recent mission was a kidnapping mission. No, not the Hokage. Not the Copy Ninja either. Just a kid. The kid who had orphaned me twelve years ago._


	4. The Date

**CHAPTER 4 **

***A/N: Eath's thoughts will be quoted by //....//

Holding a bundle of red roses in his right hand, sweats became visible on Iruka's face. He was waiting for his date outside the Konoha Theatre.

What if she decided not to come, Iruka panicked. He was wearing a dark green sweatshirt, and a pair of blue jeans. He didn't remember when the last time he wore something other than the Chuunin uniform was.

Eath observed in distance. //From the information I've gathered so far, Iruka is the person Naruto trusts the most. So if I can transform into Iruka without a flaw, the rest will be easy.//

After a while, Kyomi finally arrived. "I'm sorry, Iruka. Have you been waiting long?" She was wearing a white sleeveless top and a long dark red shirt.

"No," Iruka blushed. "You look really good. Here, this is for you." And he handed her the roses.

"Thanks, they are beautiful. Let's go in. What are we seeing?" she then dragged him by the arm.

"I haven't bought tickets yet. I wasn't sure what you would like to see," he was a little embarrassed by his unpreparedness.

"Whatever you want you see is fine with me," she smiled. He then pick some educational film to watch. //No wonder he's so popular among students.//

//He doesn't like popcorn.

He likes Pepsi over Coke.

He blushes every twelve-point-six-five seconds on average.

He rubs the back of his head with his left hand when he's embarrassed.

He keeps a shuriken beside his waist on the right even when he's not wearing his uniform.// Eath took mental notes on all these observations silently.

"Did you enjoy the film?" Iruka asked as they walked out the theatre.

"It sucked!" Kyomi replied and looked at her date, who was frowning and silently blaming himself for choosing the boring film. She then laughed, "I was just kidding! It was an interesting film. I liked it."

Iruka grinned as if he had just been promoted to a Jounin. The Kyomi he knew years ago never joked. "You've changed a lot, Kyomi,"

She turned to look at him and smiled, "And you haven't changed a bit."

"Iruka-sensei~!!" A kid with a huge grin ran toward the two. //That's my target.//

"Ooh~ Iruka-sensei's on a date!" Naruto teased loudly, while his teacher's face turned red. "I'm go-ing to tell Ka-ka-shi sen-sei~" he sang.

"What does this have to do with him?" Iruka inquired. Naruto gave him a big mischievous grin in return. Kyomi couldn't help laughing at the well-known joke that only Iruka didn't know of.

"Hi, you must be Naruto," Kyomi greeted. "You are the trouble maker Iruka talked about?"

Naruto's grin faded instantly and glared at Iruka. "You've been bad-talking about me already?!" His teacher just laughed it off. Naruto mumbled something and went back to his cheerful self. "You owe me ramen now!"

"Hai Hai," Iruka laughed. //Naruto likes Ramen, especially when Iruka is paying.//

Iruka and Kymoi walked Naruto home after Iruka treated everyone Ramen. "Bye, Iruka-sensei! Bye, Kyomi-san!"

"Take care, Naruto!" Iruka waved as they watched him enter his house. "Stay out of trouble!"

"He's a good kid," Kyomi commented, gazing at the closed door Naruto had just entered. "Even though he killed our parents."

"Kyomi," he said seriously. "Naruto is not the demon fox itself."

She smiled, " I can see that you really care about Naruto," she paused. "Anyway, I had fun today."

"Me too," Iruka was relieved to hear that. "Umm..I'd like to do this again." He blushed.

"Of course," Kyomi gave Iruka a peck on the cheek. "Thanks for the wonderful time. See you on Monday!" And she left her date standing in the middle of the road with a shocked red face. After a minute or so, he finally realized what had just happened, and screamed, "YES~!!"

//Iruka sure liked Kyomi. I wonder if Kyomi like him too. It doesn't matter. Two more days. I'll study him and Naruto for two more days.//


	5. Birthday

**Chapter 5**

***A/N: Eath's thoughts will be quoted by //....//

Kyomi yawned as she walked down the hallway of the Academy. She had stayed up late last night working. "Today's the day," she thought to herself, reaching for the doorknob to her office.

As she opened the door to her office, she immediately sensed the presence of someone else in the room. She was in her fighting position in an instant, ready for a fight. "Who's there?" she demanded, observing her surroundings.

Several objects appear in mid-air, falling down to her. She instantly cut them apart with her kunai. BANG! BANG! 'What was that?' Kyomi stared at the torn balloons that she had just popped. Confused, the female ninja sensed a person behind him. She threw a kick at whoever was there, and sent him against the wall.

"Surprise!" he greeted in pain, hands on his stomach, where he just got kicked. It was Iruka.

"What do you want?" she asked suspiciously. //Does he know the relationship between Eath and Kyomi?//

"Happy Birthday," he said, leaning against the wall. That was when Kyomi noticed the ruined cake that landed beside Iruka.

"Happy..birthday...?" she repeated the words, staring at the cake.

" I still remember. I never had the courage to give you a birthday present when we were young. Now's my chance again," Iruka was rubbing the back of his head again, laughing at himself. He stopped when he realized that the birthday girl was crying. "Kyomi? I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. I shouldn't have come."

Worried, Iruka stood up. Before he could react, Kyomi hugged him as her tears pour down her cheeks. "No one...*sob* ... no one has g-given me a birthday present...since my parents died."

"What do you mean?" Iruka held her. His eyebrows knotted. "Did your stepfather not throw you birthday parties?"

"Please. Don't. Don't talk about that man," Kyomi shook her head against his chest. "All he wanted...was..." She grabbed onto Iruka's green uniform vest tighter. "...was to sleep with me." Iruka was completely stunned. When Kyomi had been adopted twelve years ago by a wealthy foreign man, every orphan in the village envied her, including himself. At the same time, he had been happy for her as well, because she had found another home, a second chance. He had never dreamed of what horrible things could have been happening to her after she had left with her new family. He held her tighter, as if she wouldn't be hurt anymore if he held her tight enough.

"He acted like the best father on earth before we left the village....but...." her voice trailed off. Her sob took over her sentence.

"I will not let anything happen to you again. Ever." Iruka assured her, holding her tightly, while blaming himself for not being able to be at her side when she needed help the most. "I love you, Kyomi."

She froze. She hadn't heard that phrase for a long long time. She didn't even remember when the last time she heard someone telling her that was. She missed it. It was so nice to be loved again. It would be even nicer if she could to return the love.

Iruka had tears in his eyes as well. Tear of anger. Tear of love. Tear of all the emotions combined. "I'll be at your side from now on."

//Sorry, Iruka. That won't be happening.//

Kyomi pulled herself away from him and wiped her tears. She looked up and smiled at him, then turned her attention to the mess on the floor.

"I'll clean it up," Iruka offered and gave her a nice warm smile. "I'll buy you a new cake later tonight. We'll actually eat it this time."

//Or not.//

As Iruka shut the door behind him as he left Kyomi's office, one of his colleagues walking down the hallway was looking for him, "Iruka-sensei, Hokage-sama wants to see you."

* * *

"Naruto!" Iruka knocked on the boy's door. "I'll bought you some ramen!" Right when the the word 'ramen' came out of his mouth, the door swung open.

"Iruka-sensei~!" Naruto gave his teacher a big hug. "I love you, Iruka-sensei! Did you buy my favourite kind?" He was already looking through the bag Iruka brought.

"Iruka-sensei, I thought you said you had to celebrate Kyomi-san's birthday tonight," he asked as he took out the cup ramens from the bag. "What happened?"

"Something came up," he simply replied, as he poured hot water into their ramen.

"Did you get rejected?" Naruto teased with a grin. Iruka blushed and laughed it off. "Let's just eat our ramen, Naruto."

As Naruto pick up his chopsticks, and place his nose above the rising steam. He sniffed. And frowned. He sniffed. And frowned more. "Something's wrong with this ramen, Iruka-sensei," he complained to his teacher, who was already eating. "What do you mean? It tastes perfect! Start eating or it'll get cold."

"Hey, hey, remember I possess some fox power. My nose is extra sensitive! Especially when you are talking about ramen!" Naruto argued. Iruka's expression darkened. "Umm.. I think you should stop eating too. They could be expired. Are you feeling sick already, sensei?"

"So you are not going to eat it? I bought them especially for you," Iruka looked disappointed. The boy looked at his teacher for a moment, then looked at the ramen. He then touched his chin and closed his eyes to ponder, looking as if he were trying to make an important decision. A knock on the door interrupted his thought. Naruto's eyes snapped open. "Who could it be?"

"Open up! Naruto!" the voice behind the door called out. A familiar voice that both Iruka and Naruto recognized it - Iruka's voice. The two exchanged glances.

Iruka-sensei? Naruto wondered. But he's right here eating ramen with me. Is this a fake one? Or is the one at the door fake?


	6. Finale

**CHAPTER 6**

***A/N: Eath's thoughts will be quoted by //....//

Naruto was debating on what he should do as the knock on the door became more frequent. "Naruto!" called the Iruka outside. If he answered the door, and if the Iruka in the house is the fake one, he could easily be attacked from behind. If the Iruka outside is the imposter, then he shouldn't even open the door. If he just stayed put, what would the Iruka inside do if he is the intruder? Sweats covered the boy's face as he tried to figure a way out.

Iruka read his face and understood his position. He stood up and Naruto's natural reaction made himself take a step back. "I'll open the door, Naruto," Iruka offered. That was the best of the worst solutions for Naruto. If Iruka opened the door, the two Iruka would have to fight. Iruka pressed his back against the wall next to the door. He reached for the doorknob and pulled the door open.

//I've done sufficient research and observation. Naruto won't be able to tell me away from the real Iruka.//

The Iruka at the door was confused for a second as to how the door was opened. It was an opportunity for the Iruka behind the door to strike. His shuriken slashed the other's leg as sparkling blood splattered on the wooden floor. He tackled the injured Iruka down.

"Iruka Sensei~!" Naruto called out in concern, even though he wasn't sure if the one who got cut was the real sensei.

"Naruto, run!" the Iruka-looking Eath told the shaken boy. "I'll take care of him."

//I'll finish him off first and Naruto won't even know that the defeated Iruka is the real one.//

"His target is you, Naruto!" the real Iruka yelled, struggling to break free. Hokage-sama had told him earlier today that the info-gathering unit had reported an extremely dangerous ninja was on a mission to kidnap Naruto. Iruka was supposed to warn the target tonight and inform him that the protection would begin the following morning, not expecting Eath to act so soon. "Don't worry about me!"

It didn't matter which Iruka was real, Naruto couldn't just leave them. He had to find a way to help his sensei out, but he just couldn't figure out which one was real. The damned imposter disguised himself very well, he cursed.

Iruka knew what Naruto was thinking. He twisted his arm away from Eath's grip, and sped outside the moment he broke free. Eath looked at Naruto and hesitated for a moment, but closely followed Iruka out toward the woods.

//If I take Naruto with me now, and let Iruka seek backup, it might cause me a lot of trouble when we try to leave the village later on. Plus, it might be a pain to kidnap the nine-tailed kid when he's fully alert. He didn't even take a sip of the drug-spiked ramen I had prepared. I'll have to take out Iruka first...//

Two blurry shadows dashed through the woods at high speed. The one in the front started to decelerate. The injured leg was slowing him down. Eath caught up with him in several seconds and landed in front of him. Iruka dropped to one of his knees and stared back with anger. His leg was bleeding continuously. Eath had released the transformation jutsu. Every single part of the body was covered with navy ninja clothing, except for the eyes.

//I'll finish him off now.//

Eath threw a shuriken at Iruka's heart. In this close range, Iruka could not possibly react to the speed of the knife. He was hit, but did not die instantly. //How could I have missed?// Eath had missed the crucial area by two inches. //How is that possible??!! I never miss!! Never!! Not once! Not to mention that he was only two feet away!// Eath studied the wound on Iruka's chest in shock. //Not only did I miss, the force I released when I threw the shuriken was too weak! The wound is only an inch deep, when I had meant it to be five inches.//

It started to rain. Droplets of rain dripped down her shaking fists as she breathed heavily. //What was I thinking?//

Shinobi must never show emotions, especially not during a mission. Eath told herself silently. You are now Eath. You are not Kyomi. The life of Kyomi has disappeared many years ago when you killed your stepfather. At that very moment when you tainted your hands with black blood, you had become Eath. Which is _ Hate_ if you rearrange the letters. There's no love. Just hate.

Eath, Do It. She told herself, but a begging voice at the back of her mind was urging her to stop.

Iruka saw the opportunity. He pulled out the shuriken from his chest, and stabbed her stomach with all his might. Although she looked shocked, deep down inside, Kyomi was in fact glad that she didn't have to make a decision anymore. Blood poured out from her wound as tears rushed out from her eyes.

Is that the rain or is she crying? Iruka pondered, and pulled the knife out from her body. The pain on his own wound made him collapse involuntarily beside his opponent's body as it also fell backward. The body landed in a resounding STOMP. He looked at the motionless body of his enemy. The teacher wasn't sure if his opponent was already dead. He doubted it. This was an S-ranked ninja after all. He had expected himself to be killed tonight. No way Eath would die under the knife of a Chuunin like himself.

She was staring at Iruka. Tears were still pouring out. From those deep green eyes. I know those eyes, Iruka realized. He gritted his teeth and pulled down her mask. What happened in the next several seconds played in slow motion from Iruka's point of view. The scene of his lover's face being revealed behind the mask was carved onto Iruka's memory permanently.

The rain hit their bodies harder than ever.

**FINALE**

_Droplets of rain hit my face as I lie on the wet soil. The rain is stopping. It's already dawn._

_I looked to the side. My blood has been diluted. It's not dark anymore. It unexpectedly sparkles as sunlight creeps through the bushes. How I wish it were true. My vision blurs._

_I blink. I see Iruka. He looks shocked. "I'm...sorry," my lips quiver as I breath out the words. I wonder if he heard it. I wonder if he will forgive me._

_I close my eyes, imagining how my life would be if it could be rewritten. How I would live with Iruka happily ever after. How I would prepare breakfast for him every morning. How I would have lunch with him every afternoon at school. How we would leave work and head home together hand-in-hand in the evening. How I would cook dinner as he watches the news every night. How he would help me clean up after dinner. How we would have children...and grandchildren. Only if I never became an assassin. Only if I never killed my stepfather. Only if I was never adopted. Only if I never left the Leaf Village. Only if this were a fairy tale._

_Ain't I creative?_

_I opened my eyes slowly. I see Iruka's face above me as he holds me in his trembling arms. _

_ The rain has stopped, but his tears haven't. Are those tears falling for me? Someone is actually crying for me?_

_He looks worried. Someone is worried about me._

_He's panicking. That is for me too. I think he's saying my name, but I can't hear him._

_ Iruka. I want him to know one thing. Something I wanted to tell him earlier in my office, but I was held back by Eath._

_ I have to let him know this. I have to. I need to tell him now. It's now or never._

_I spend my last drop of strength and manage to slip the four words out of my lips, "I. Love. You...too..."_

_There. I did it. I smile at him -- finally, a happy birthday in many years -- and close my eyes._

@/ THE END @/

_----  
_A/N: Sorry that this story is short, but I don't know how to write longer stories. Hope you liked it though. Please review so that I know I don't suck.


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